Konoha's ninjas weren't blind, of course. Someone had simply told them to pretend they were.
"Advisors, please stay here until everything is over."
At the Hokage Office, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu looked at the ninjas surrounding them and sighed deeply.
Sarutobi had barely left before Danzo's people arrived, as if the two had arranged it in advance.
The biggest problem was that the ninjas blocking their way came from clans that supported them!
The Anbu had also arrived, but without their orders, they didn't dare act.
A Jonin said to the two advisors, "Lord Danzo received word that the Third Hokage had Tsunade study a way to break the Caged Bird. The solution should already be on its way to the Hyuga."
"What did Danzo do to Tsunade?!" Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exclaimed, eyes wide. "Tsunade must not come to harm!"
"We know. So does he. You can rest assured."
Another Jonin spoke in a low voice. "Tsunade is the princess of Konoha, the princess of the Land of Fire. We wouldn't lay a hand on her."
"We don't need much. But the things the First promised us went with him to the grave. His administration ended, and some of our privileges have gradually been taken back."
"And now, what does the Third Hokage intend to do? Uproot us completely?"
Most ninja clans supported the Hyuga Main Family, not the Hyuga Branch Family. The Branch Family were merely servants of the Main Family, and they had long since accepted that.
What did the Third Hokage hope to accomplish by studying a way to break the Caged Bird? Destroy the Hyuga Main Family?
And after destroying them, would he come after the rest of them?
"Hiruzen wouldn't do that. You should know perfectly well that the ninja clans can't be wiped out. He's trying to break the Caged Bird because he's wary of Danzo."
Utatane Koharu shook her head, her expression conflicted. "When a commoner ninja grows powerful, he leaves behind the secret techniques that made him so. His descendants grow stronger by relying on those techniques, and in time, a Secret Technique Clan takes shape."
"Bloodline Clans, on the other hand, hold their place in the Shinobi World through the inheritance of unique bloodline abilities. As long as their bloodline survives, they can rise again, which makes them even harder to eliminate. So as long as ninjas exist, the clans will never disappear!"
"But old clans must die out to make room for new ones to emerge."
An elderly figure appeared among them, making Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura frown. "Elder Sarutobi?"
The newcomer was Sarutobi Masaaki, a clan elder who supported them.
"You two, Hiruzen is weakening the Sarutobi Clan. He took two-thirds of our strength to the front lines, but according to the intelligence Danzo gave me, it's no place for ordinary ninjas to survive."
"He also pushed Minato, a commoner ninja, into power. Add this incident with the Hyuga Clan, and we can't trust him."
All three moves had directly or indirectly targeted the ninja clans. If they didn't fight back now, one of them might be next.
At that, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance, unsure how to respond.
Leaning on his cane, Sarutobi Masaaki fixed them with clouded eyes. "And you should understand: if a Hokage has enough power, then from the day he takes office, his clan becomes the strongest ninja clan in Konoha."
"Namikaze Minato is young and powerful. With Hiruzen paving the way for him, he could hold the Hokage Position for a very, very long time. And his child with Kushina Uzumaki will undoubtedly be a genius—a genius who inherits the Uzumaki Bloodline!"
"You know better than I do how terrifying the Uzumaki Bloodline is. Only they are truly suited to be the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and the Nine-Tails will be passed down through their clan from generation to generation!"
The scene Sarutobi Masaaki described with his words flashed through their minds. A chill seemed to sweep in from every direction, and the two advisors' brows furrowed at once.
The old man wasn't exaggerating. What he described could really happen.
It would be better to make Kushina's children and descendants the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki than to search the Shinobi World for survivors of the Uzumaki Clan.
No one could say how many members of the Uzumaki Clan remained in the Shinobi World. Nor could anyone guarantee that those brought back wouldn't gravitate toward Minato and Kushina because of their care, indirectly helping the Namikaze line grow stronger.
Kushina's descendants, however, would be born in Konoha and naturally feel close to the village. They could be taught from childhood and trained to become Jinchuriki in the future.
But that would bring about something terrifying: the strongest power in Konoha would remain in the hands of Namikaze Minato's descendants forever!
Minato might not have such ambitions, but no one could guarantee that his descendants would think the same way he did.
When that day came, what would the Uchiha, the Hyuga, or the Sarutobi amount to beside the Namikaze line, which held the Nine-Tails?
And Minato was already on close terms with the Uchiha and the Hyuga Branch Family...
"Hiruzen has gone too far. He's weakening the Sarutobi while creating Konoha's strongest clan. We all lived through that era. We know the power Madara Uchiha wielded."
"Minato is close to the Uchiha, so there's a good chance his descendants will marry into the clan. If one day someone with those eyes is born as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, there won't be another First in Konoha who can stop him. He'll be able to do whatever he wants."
"Are you really going to watch Minato secure his position, act as he pleases in Konoha, and see his descendants stand at the top of the Shinobi World?"
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura looked conflicted. They were starting to be swayed.
Minato would never let his descendants suffer the same treatment Kushina had. His son would be the Hokage's son, the hero's heir.
Without the Jinchuriki label, with all its power and danger, and bearing the identity of the Fourth Hokage's descendant, how could future leaders use all kinds of methods to control the Jinchuriki?
Underhanded methods were no longer an option. The longer Minato served as Hokage, the greater his influence on future generations would be, and the harder it would be for Konoha's future leaders to make a move.
They couldn't simply rely on personal feelings, the way Minato did, could they?
Minato's descendants might not fall for that, and no one who rose to such a position would believe in feelings.
Mingzheng's fears could well become reality. Without the stigma attached to being a Jinchuriki, the Namikaze line might hold Konoha in its grip forever.
No Hokage could ignore the Namikaze Clan if its members were descendants of the Fourth and held the Nine-Tails.
Because that would mean they held the strongest power in Konoha!
The Namikaze had more potential than the Sarutobi to become the new Senju...
Even if there was only one of them!
Neither advisor wanted that to happen. Their own clans would never allow it.
But Hiruzen and Minato had left the village in their care, trusting them. That left them tormented and unable to agree outright.
Seeing this, the people behind Sarutobi Mingzheng exchanged glances and smiled.
As expected of Elder Mingzheng. He'd persuaded the advisors currently in charge of Konoha's affairs with ease.
If the two agreed, nothing would stand in the way of what came next.
"Those eyes aren't merely likely to appear. They already have."
As the chilling words rang out, Danzo pushed through the crowd and came before the two advisors.
"Just now, a Uchiha ninja with a Mangekyo helped Tsunade overcome her fear of blood."
Everyone present was taken aback, then their expressions changed dramatically.
"The Third Hokage had a card like that up his sleeve?"
"Is there anyone among the surviving Uchiha who can awaken those eyes?"
"Tsunade and a Mangekyo... What a combination..."
Danzo looked at the rabble before him and sneered inwardly.
If I didn't still need you...
"Koharu, Homura, Hiruzen has clearly forgotten our teacher's wariness of the Uchiha. He even hid the fact that one of them had awakened a Mangekyo from us.
"The power sealed within those Mangekyo can rewrite Tsunade's will and make her overcome her fear of blood. Perhaps they can also make us obey his orders.
"Are you really still going to side with Hiruzen? The Fourth becoming Hokage... isn't appropriate!"
Though he had realized from Shin's sudden departure that Shin had nothing to do with Hiruzen, Danzo wasn't about to let this leverage go to waste.
Danzo's whisper was the final straw.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura sighed in unison. The former asked, "Tell us, then. What do you need us to do?"
It wouldn't be difficult to verify the existence of the Mangekyo. Danzo had no reason to lie to them.
Hiruzen had kept such a trump card hidden from them. That made it clear he didn't trust them.
"First, hand over command of the Anbu to me."
As Danzo set his plan in motion, the Hyuga Main Family also received the message he'd sent.
It came with the Fission Technique and several bottles of medicine to aid in its use.
In the meeting room, the elders of the Main Family stared at the Fission Technique and the medicine on the table, exchanging glances.
After a long while, the Second Elder said coldly, "Sarutobi Hiruzen, the nerve of him! He told the clan head to be wary of Danzo, but now it seems he's the one we should be most wary of!"
"There's no point discussing that now. We should focus on dealing with the Fission Technique. Tsunade can certainly make more of this medicine, and she already knows the technique. We need to consider how to render it ineffective."
The First Elder spoke calmly, then looked toward Hyuga Hiashi, seated at the head of the table. "Clan Head, do you have any ideas?"
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